It’s been nearly 30 years since Fairways Golf Course won the Men’s Lincoln Highway Golf Tournament, but this year’s squad finally put an end to the club’s long championship drought this past Sunday.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
AMBOY — It’s been nearly 30 years since Fairways Golf Course won the Men’s Lincoln Highway Golf Tournament, but this year’s squad finally put an end to the club’s long championship drought this past Sunday.
Behind individual runner-up Thomas Brennan, Fairways Golf Course (+21) edged out Dixon’s Timber Creek (+20) by one stroke to finish first in the 95th Lincoln Highway event at Shady Oaks Country Club and take home the team trophy for the first time since 1988. Six golfers represented the Fairways squad including Brennan, Jared Johnson, Josh Johnson, David Shaw, George Weber and Jon Woeppel.
“This was our No. 1 goal,” Brennan said. “We’ve had leads over the past few years but we haven’t been able to close the deal. We’re happy to finally win it this year and it means a lot to all of the guys. We’ve been working really hard… It feels really good to get over the hump.”
While the Lincoln Highway Golf Tournament is normally a two-day event, this year’s event was rescheduled to one 27-hole outing due to harsh weather conditions. But the Fairways team was undeterred by the wet course, with four players putting up positive scores to lead the group to victory. Brennan (+10) and Josh Johnson (+5) each finished first in their respective flights, while Weber (+5) and Jared Johnson (+3) put up solid numbers as well.
“It’s such a big relief winning the Lincoln Highway,” Josh Johnson said. “We have been so close the past four years and to finally do what we knew we could do feels so good. Most of us have been playing together over the past 10 years and we’ve slowly made our way to the top.”
Target golf was the key to unlocking a difficult Shady Oaks course on Sunday, Brennan said. While wet conditions and unfamiliar layouts made some holes difficult compared to what the Fairways players were used to seeing at their home course, the team was able to score just enough to outpace the competition. Shaw (E) and Woeppel (-2) rounded out the Fairways squad on Sunday.
“The course is a little bit longer than the Rochelle course,” Woeppel said. “I thought it was in pretty good shape after all the rain… I’m happy for the other guys like Jared, Josh and George who have been playing in this tournament for 15 to 20 years.”
